Life and Leisure

What's new

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-16 08:00

Hot favorites

The biggest search engine in China kicked off the 2010 session of its annual Baidu Hot Point campaign on Sept 13.

Baidu releases a list of the hottest movies, albums, actors and singers every quarter, according to how frequently they are searched.

In the second quarter of 2010, the most searched movie was Ip Man 2, starring Donnie Yen, and the most searched song was Jane Zhang's If This is What Love is.

An awards ceremony will be held on Jan 15, 2011 for the most popular search items over the whole of the year.

Director John Woo's Red Cliff was the hottest movie in 2008 and he told a press conference for the 2010 Hot Point campaign that he hopes his new movie Reign of Assassins will win an award again.

Hunan TV, known for its pioneering entertainment shows, co-hosts the campaign.

Sino-Greek book deal

The People's Literature Publishing House (PLPH), affiliated with the China Publishing Group Corp, has inked a deal with Greek publisher Ellinika Grammata Publishers SA, to publish and distribute children's books by popular Chinese writer Qin Wenjun and Greek writer Eugene (Evgenios) Trivizas.

Two stories with similar themes, created by the two writers, will be packaged in a box set, with expert input from book designers, illustrators, translators from both sides, and distributed separately in Greek and Chinese markets, says PLPH president Pan Kaixiong.

"The Sino-Greek co-operation signals the start of a new model of joint publishing endeavors by the China Publishing Group Corp," Pan says.

"With this, we have made a further step in international publishing cooperation, doing much more than copyright trading, and the import and export of printed titles."

The model is expected to be applied to most future joint projects with overseas publishers.

TV auditions for foreigners

Expatriates are now welcome to sign up to perform at Beijing Television Station (BTV)'s annual Spring Festival Global Gala. Auditions will be held at the square of Imperial Ancestral Temple. Successful performers will share the stage with entertainment stars and professional performing troupes from across the world. The gala will be broadcast on BTV on the night of Feb 4, 2011, the second day of the lunar year.

Those interested can dial 96168 by Sept 28 to register.

Urban angst

An exhibition, entitled Updating China, at Shanghai's Himalayas Art Museum, examines urban development in China.

The exhibition displays 40 architectural samples and 20 artworks by 19 celebrated Chinese and German artists, including Qiu Zhijie, Liu Guangyun and Ina Webber.

The artists have used recycled materials, such as trees, syringes, paper cups and bicycles to create works, which explore urban lives and social and cultural issues.

The exhibition echoes the Updating Germany exhibition, held in the German Pavilion at the 2008 Venice Architecture Biennale, and will run through October.

China Daily